A huge shadow started to appear behind Alyssa, who was holding Asher.
Alyssa brought Asher closer as various ice daggers started to revolve around her; blood was dripping from the edge of her eyes right now.
Numerous small ice shards shot out, killing two or three Kirons, but something weird happened. Due to her intense headache and pain, Alyssa could not even see around her.
She buried her head in Asher's hair as her hands trembled while she used all of her mana to somehow kill the monsters.
Normally, the Kirons would have dodged those attacks, or at least a few more would have survived, but no monster was moving even an inch.
An ominous presence permeated the air, and the monsters halted in their tracks. From the inky blackness of the shadows, a single colossal eye emerged, the vibrant, blood-red hue of its iris piercing the gloom. The eye's elliptical pupil narrowed, exuding an air of mystery and an unsettling aura.
The unblinking stare held a terrifying and menacing quality that seemed to paralyze the monsters in fear. As the eye surveyed the dungeon, the creatures trembled, recognizing the entity as a force beyond their comprehension.
The true form of the enormous shadow remained hidden; its power emanating from the shadows caused even the most ferocious beasts to cower. The once-rampant monsters now stood frozen, their instincts warning them of the futility of challenging this ancient, enigmatic being.
The eye moved towards the violent energy, sensing a presence more powerful than the worthless monsters in front of it.
The S Rank boss monster trembled in fear as it realized something far more powerful was present on the other side. Its instinct told it to run rather than die to the unknown presence.
But before anything could react, the darkness with the shadow started to wrap around the violet energy. It permeated through the violet energy and strangled the S Rank Boss monster that could not escape the clutches of the strange darkness.
[ ?!? is absorbing the S Rank Monster ]
As the shadow devoured the S Rank monster, not even leaving any trace of the fearful monster behind, it turned towards the violet energy, but before it could even try to devour it, strange chains started appearing to reject the shadows, making the eye glare at those chains.
[ ?!!???! is interfering ]
Before the chains could move further, the second eye opened as well, and the darkness took over the whole dungeon, including the violet energy.
The violet energy grew smaller and smaller as the strange presence retracted the darkness around it. And in a few seconds, the strange violet energy disappeared completely, leaving no trace of its existence.
The eyes turned and looked at Asher, who was unconscious.
[ ?!? recognizes its host ]
[ ?!? does not submit to the host ]
But strange purple runes came out of Asher's body, taking over the darkness and making the darkness a bit smaller as a result.
[ ?!? questions its existence ]
The massive red eye came closer to Asher's body behind Alyssa's back. Fortunately, Alyssa could not see the darkness that was wrapping around her and Asher.
[ Checking Full Access Permission.... ]
[ Host has full access ]
Whatever the true form of the system was, it was truly confused about why Asher was commanding over it.
[ ?!? will get partially absorbed by the host ]
The eye disappeared as it got absorbed into Asher.
Alyssa didn't know, but a small black tattoo appeared on Asher's back and disappeared soon after.
Alyssa was trembling, but she kept hugging Asher to protect him.
*Cough*
She started coughing as she looked around her to see that those Kirons were dead.
"We are alive..." She muttered as blood kept dripping around her eyes and nose.
She was so tired right now that she wanted to sleep, but this was not the time. She stood up and laid down Asher carefully; the floor was quite hot, but due to her unstable use of her mana, a shell of ice had formed under and around them.
She broke the thin ice with her pale hands as she walked over and took the boss inside her spatial ring, and turning, she did the same for the Kirons that died due to her ice attacks as well.
She turned her face as she looked above the Altar where the artifact was present and beyond that was the portal gate that would take them out of the dungeon.
Each step was making her even more dizzy, but she kept walking as she reached Asher, who was lying down with his eyes closed.
A certain memory popped in her mind as she remembered the events that happened earlier.
Alyssa kept looking at Asher's face for a few seconds before she crouched to pick him up.
Both of them had multiple small burns on their hands and near their necks and faces, but this could be treated with medical attention outside in the medical facility of the World Academy.
Now the boss was dead, Alyssa could finally use the mana-gathering locket she had. Regaining a small amount of mana, she picked up Asher with his arms around her shoulders.
It was difficult for her, but she kept walking on the steps of the Altar as they reached the highest step, and she saw a ring on top of a stone slab.
She took it in her spatial ring, as the dungeon would probably close soon after they left. This was the case with Dungeon Defects that resulted in Yellow or Red Gates.
And when both the artifact and boss were defeated, such dungeons would soon disappear, so she needed to leave with Asher, or they would be trapped inside this dungeon forever as it would disappear from their world.
Her eyes were getting heavy, but looking at Asher, who was bleeding, she needed to get out as soon as possible. She dragged herself while holding Asher with her shoulder and saw the Yellow gate in front of her.
****************************************
Outside the World Academy,
Damian and Amelia both were long done with their Dungeon Exploration, although it was tough, they had almost managed to kill the Ice Wolf. Although it was more due to Amelia, who boosted herself and Damian to withstand the attacks.
Right now, Damian was arguing with a staff member outside the portal points.
"What do you mean his Dungeon Exploration got delayed?" Damian asked the staff member.
"I wanted to ask what boss he fought," Damian turned as he got back to Amelia.
"What did they say?" Amelia asked Damian.
"His test got delayed, so he will come out a bit late," Damian replied as both of them went towards the VIP dorm.
They were both tired, and Amelia wanted to take a short nap as well so they went back.
At the Dungeon outside, the Professor was patiently waiting as he kept staring at the dungeon portal while biting his nails.
He was wishing somehow Alyssa died, so they could save Asher quickly, but there were no signs of it. A long time had passed, but looking at the dungeon still closed meant both of them were alive, so he kept praying for Asher's safe return.
Suddenly the professor's eyes went wide as he saw the sight infront of him.
"Wait, the gate is changing!" The Professor shouted as every staff member, including the senior-year student who was sitting there like a hostage, looked at the dungeon.
Through the dungeon, a girl who carrying a young man stepped out.
It was not hard for them to recognize Alyssa, as her looks were similar to her previous appearance due to the artifact she was wearing, but everybody was shocked as she carried Asher, who was bleeding and unconscious.
Seeing that she had finally stepped out, Alyssa's eyes grew even heavier, and she fell down, causing both of them to fall.
"Take them to the Medical Facility!" The professor shouted with urgency.
"Inform the principal!" He shouted at the staff member beside him.
In a minute, both of them were taken to the medical facility urgently. Currently, the extent of their injuries was unknown, but seeing that they had survived was enough.
The professor fell to the ground as his legs gave up. The stress he had experienced in the past few hours was something he never wanted to go through again. He was sure that if Asher didn't return alive, he would be the one used as the scapegoat and probably would die.
Farnus was still present in his office, but on his hands, various rings were visible. He was looking for some documents when the staff member urgently knocked on the door.
The door opened as the staff member came in with a delighted look on his face.
"Sir, Asher Greville has come out of the dungeon alive," he reported.
Farnus's eyebrows raised as his fingers tapped the desk two times.
"Is he in the medical facility?" Farnus asked.
"Yes, our doctors are treating him, so he should be able to recover soon enough," the staff reported.
"Delay the ranking announcement; we will do it after both of them wake up," Farnus said without a single change in his expressions.
As the staff member left, Farnus removed the rings on his hands. He stood up, looked outside the window, and remembered his talk with Silvus Grandus, the Mage Association Chairman, long ago.
"What do you think of the records of the past?" Silvus asked Farnus, who looked like a 40-year-old man.
"Hmm, for some, they handle them like a legacy; some handle them as a source of information. It depends on how you look at them," Farnus replied.
"I think something different. Remember the guy who mastered the runic arts and was said to be the creator of the Trial Grounds..."
It was a conversation that happened long ago, but Farnus was strangely remembering it now.
